I Was Cuba: Treasures from the Ramiro Fernandez Collection | 
| Author: Kevin Kwan
Creators: Ramiro Fernandez, Peter Castro, Reinaldo Arenas
Publisher: Chronicle Books
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $15.83
You Save: $9.12 (37%)
New (29) Used (10) from $15.83
Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 259962
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 304
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.4
Dimensions (in): 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.4
ISBN: 0811860531
Dewey Decimal Number: 972.91050222
EAN: 9780811860536
ASIN: 0811860531
Publication Date: October 11, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Perfect condition. Satisfaction guaranteed. Inventory subject to prior sale.
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Product Description
While most think of Cuba as a mythical island of rum, rumba, and revolution, period photographs reveal a more complex place. I Was Cuba is an original look at Cuban history as seen through the Ramiro Fernandez Collection arguably the world's leading archive of Cuban photos and ephemera. I Was Cuba showcases rare, vernacular images from the nineteenth century through the revolutionary period, exploring the everyday and the eccentric. With texts from famed Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas (Before Night Falls), this captivating volume is an intimate view into a bygone era of glamour, political upheaval, and astounding visual culture.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 The greatest Cuban photo ever October 18, 2007
JR (New York, NY)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
Wow, now THIS is a masterpiece. Well chosen material juxtaposed in creative and sometimes very funny ways, and a singular look at a well-known subject. The collection that these photos came from must be truly magnificent. I already bought ten copies for my Cuba-obsessed friends, and I'm just getting started. Both the collector and book designer get the highest marks possible!
Superb photos -- a lost Cuba brought to life! October 23, 2007
L. Jolly (Houston, TX, USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This tidy little volume is worth much more than it costs. The nicely embossed cover has a "quality" feel, and the pictures deliver a unique experience.
I bought this as a birthday gift for the father of my fiancee -- he's visited Cuba on a business basis (he's in an industry that IS allowed to do limited biz with the island's current regime). Anyway, he was delighted.
This brilliantly chosen photo collection illuminates a Cuba that no longer exists. The thing to remember is, the "lost" Cuba is not dead, just slumbering beneath the surface of the modern Communist state. The Cuban past caught in these pix explains a lot of the present reality; it may be VERY relevant to the near future, when Castro is gone and Cuba's mixed history and modern experience recombine. Highly recommended. P.S. - I also bought, and he also loved, Es Cuba Es Cuba: Life and Love on an Illegal Island, a nicely written love-and-hate story of contradictions in contemporary Cuban life.
I WAS CUBA January 1, 2008
Jose Mencia (Bronx, New York)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I had originally bought the book for me, but when I opened the book and saw all the beautiful pictures of what Cuba once was, I knew I had to give this book to my parents. When my mother unwrapped the book on Christmas Day and started to look at the pictures with my dad, tears came from both their eyes. My mother hugged me and could not stop thanking me for the gift. Those of Cuban Heritage, please buy his book, for "YOU ARE CUBA" and you won't regret it.
 Amazing! November 1, 2007
Pensive Wright (ny)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This has to be the most comprehensive collection of Cuban photos in the world. So beautifully layed out and designed. This is truly a great treasure. The passion for the subject leaps off the page.
CUBAN ALBUM October 29, 2007
Lourdes Perdomo (SANTO DOMINGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC)
I JUST RECEIVED THIS BOOK, IT IS JUST WONDERFUL..NOT A BOOK BUT AN ALBUM OF PICTURES OF CUBA, OF A LONG YESTERDAY. ITS AS IF IT WAS A FAMILY ALBUM.LOVE IT...AS A CUBAN I APPRECIATED THIS ALBUM SO MUCH, MEMORIES OF THE PAST..ALL CUBAN WOULD LOVE THIS BOOK AND DOES THAT ARE NOT CUBAN SHOULD FIND IT VERY INTERESTING, AN INSIGHT OF WHAT WAS..ONE THING I WOULD OF LIKED, IS SOME WRITING ON A SIDE, IF THEY COULD OF THE YEAR TAKEN AND NAME OF SOME OF THE PEOPLE IN THE PICTURES TAKEN..PICTURE OF CELIA CRUZ ONE KNOWS ITS HER, BUT IN THE BOOK THEY HAD SEVERAL PICTURES OF ACTORS, DANCERS I DO NOT KNOW WHO THEY ARE..STILL ITS ONE FANTASTIC TRESURE FOR ME..LOURDES PERDOMO
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